O Come, All Ye Unfaithful: Bathsheba
O Come, All Ye Unfaithful • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 36:27
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· 11 viewsGod preserves the kingship in Israel despite insurrection through a wife who believes the promises.
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Call to Worship
Call to Worship
A Psalm of David.
1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah
Adoration
Adoration
Confession
Confession
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Message
Message
32 King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king.
33 And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.
34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’
35 You shall then come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place. And I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.”
36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so.
37 As the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”
Background for the Sermon Series.
Highlight Bathsheba.
6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,
Here name is not mentioned likely because of the scandalous nature of the adultery done earlier (2 Samuel 11).
Who will be king?
Those who live under a monarch feel the weight of this question far more often than we do.
We still feel the weight of that question although we live in a constitution republic that has checks and balances.
“Who will be in charge?” is a foundational question for even Christians.
If a person wants to allow their desires and passions to have ultimate allegiance, then they’re essentially placing a crown of authority on the head of their desires.
The husband who wants unreserved respect and admiration tries to place to crown on his own head.
The wife who demands her emotions are validated and received by all places the crown on her own head.
The child who fusses and whines for their way place their crown on their own head.
1 Kings Chapter 1: King Me! (1 Kings 1:1–10)
The problem with building our own little kingdoms is that we never find our rightful place in the true kingdom of God.
The failure to transition leadership across generations is extremely common.
It requires nothing to fail in transitioning leadership.
Communicate to no one.
Invest in no one.
Give responsibilities to no one else.
This failure of generational leadership is not merely an issue in our own day, but an issue that is much older.
God preserves the kingship in Israel despite insurrection through a wife who believes the promises.
God preserves the kingship in Israel despite insurrection through a wife who believes the promises.
Chronicles describes David’s desire to have the house of God built by Solomon in this way…
“Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it.”
David had good intentions.
The Passing of the Impotent King.
The Passing of the Impotent King.
1 Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.
David is now 70 (2 Samuel 5:4).
He couldn’t keep himself warm even with blankets any longer.
David is impotent and unable to rule Israel
2 Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.”
Unable to keep warm.
Unable to manage his family.
Unable to rule his people well.
3 So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not.
There was no impropriety on David’s end.
In his old age he needed round the clock care.
It’s not that David has finally learned self-control, rather he is too impotent to actually lead the people of Israel.
Application to All
Despite your strength today, unless the Lord removethis is all of our destinies.
Notice how different David is here from the Lord Jesus Christ.
David is impotent and nearing the end of his life.
Unable to do the simplest of tasks.
The Lord Jesus Christ though stands with power, strength, and not even death can conquer Him.
The Insurrection of a Rebellious Son
The Insurrection of a Rebellious Son
5 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
Adonijah exalts himself to be king.
Adonijah was the next oldest son after Absalom, who also attempted to set himself up as king in place of David (2 Samuel 15:7-12).
His attempt to seize the throne is missing the crucial fact that Yahweh is to appoint the king over the nation (Deuteronomy 17:14-17).
Adonijah rallies political prowess to affirm his kingship.
He attempt to seize power without the blessing of the prophet, priest, and king.
His thinking is that political power is gained by associating oneself with the right people.
He lacks anointing.
He lacks the approval of Yahweh.
We’re given further insight into Adonijah’s actions…
6 His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.
Adonijah was an unruly and rebellious son because he lacked parental discipline.
Adonijah had apparently never been disciplined.
This made for an unruly and rebellious son.
David’s patience and forgiveness are not commended here.
“David’s weakness is his unwillingness to cause his children any physical or mental discomfort”
1 and 2 Kings: An Introduction and Commentary (B. Adonijah Bids for the Throne (1:5–10))
The result of Adonijah’s hard-heartedness was to seek to set up his own kingdom opposed to God’s revealed will for Solomon to be king.
24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
There is an important side application for parents here…
To refuse discipline to your children is not love, it’s hatred.
If you hate your children…
Never correct them.
Never spank them.
Never discipline them.
This matters for you too, children
If your parents discipline you in love, don’t despise it.
If they love you, they’ll correct you.
By doing so they’re saving your soul from heading in a path like Adonijah.
Adonijah garners support by mirroring Absalom’s attempt (2 Samuel 15:7-12) at the throne in creating a coronation ceremony of his own.
A feast that celebrates with a meal of death seeking to divert the kingdom.
There is application here for all of us.
The insurrection of Adonijah runs parallel for all those who stand in rebellion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Wise Counsel in a Delicate Crisis.
Wise Counsel in a Delicate Crisis.
11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it?
Bathsheba is remembered as the adulteress of the Old Testament.
She’s the one who committed adultery with David in 2 Samuel 11.
Although she is remembered as a woman of great infidelity that King David committed heinous acts for, she should also be remembered as a wise woman.
12 Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.
13 Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’
14 Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.”
Wise counsel from a cautious prophet in a delicate crisis.
Nathan is the prophet of God and speaks on behalf of God to the people.
We saw Nathan rebuke David sharply in 2 Samuel 11 after his sin with Bathsheba.
Nathan knows the kingdom is hanging in the balance.
Wise dealings from a formerly scandalous woman to preserve the kingdom.
Solomon speaks of Bathsheba as…
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, 9 for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
Bathsheba is extremely wise in what she instructed Solomon in the past.
15 So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king).
16 Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king, and the king said, “What do you desire?”
As an older man is quick to forget his promises, so David may have forgotten what he spoke to Solomon.
This is further sign of the impotence that has come upon David and not mere forgetfulness.
For a woman to come in and ask for the kingdom for her son is an extremely bold and audacious thing to do.
David could have perceived her attempt to remind him as herself trying to stage a coup.
She acts very boldly with threat of her own life.
17 She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’
18 And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it.
19 He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he has not invited.
20 And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
21 Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.”
Bathsheba’s bravery to preserve the kingship of Israel
Bathsheba bravely recounts the situation.
Bathsheba bravely requests David’s decision.
Bathsheba bravely reminds the consequences.
Nathan promptly follows Bathsheba’s requests of David.
Nathan wisely considers that he may have missed something.
Though he remembers what David already pronounced (1 Chronicles 22), here he admits that he may have missed David’s command.
2. Nathan wisely distances himself from this insurrection.
David could have easily perceived that Nathan has joined this insurrection.
But Nathan carefully shows how he and the other noble men were not a part of this.
The Kingship Preserved for the Future
The Kingship Preserved for the Future
28 Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king.
Bathsheba’s request of the impotent David to fulfill the promises made earlier is fulfilled.
Although in his old age, David will do as he believe God has ordained.
29 And the king swore, saying, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, 30 as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.”
David recognizes that Bathsheba saved the kingdom from being railroaded from his own incompetence in neglecting to pass the kingdom on to Solomon earlier and allowing the room for the insurrection to take place.
32 King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king.
33 And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.
34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’
35 You shall then come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place. And I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.”
36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so.
37 As the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”
David affirms Solomon as his successor to the throne.
He affirms using the king’s blessing, use of David’s mule.
The presence of the priest
And the prophets anointing.
38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and brought him to Gihon.
39 There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”
40 And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.
The Messiah pointing forward to the true Messiah.
The prophet’s anointing is critical to follow throughout the book of 1 Kings.
The word used for “anointed one” in Hebrew is where we get the word “Messiah” from.
So to have a king who is anointed by the prophet is to have a king who stands as a Messiah.
David makes the most public display he can to affirm Solomon’s role as the successor with the most important people (prophet, priest, and king), the vehicle (David’s mule), and place (springs of Gihon).
All of this will solidify Solomon’s reign as king over Israel.
All of these women in Jesus’ genealogy are important.
We’ve seen Tamar preserve the promised seed.
Rahab preserve the promised land.
Ruth preserved the promised blessing.
Bathsheba preserves the promised kingship.
These women point to the climax of Jesus’ genealogy.
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
Mary will preserve all that these women foreshadowed.
She will birth the seed of Abraham.
She will bring for the One who conquers the land.
She bears the One who brings the blessing of promise.
She conceives the Anointed One of Yahweh.
Good News and the Terror of Rebellion to the King
Good News and the Terror of Rebellion to the King
41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “What does this uproar in the city mean?”
42 While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and bring good news.”
What Adonijah thinks to be good news turns out for him to be very bad news.
47 Moreover, the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself on the bed.
48 And the king also said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted someone to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it.’ ”
Think of a sitting president or ruler being told, “May your successor be greater than you ever were!”
Some may take offense at this, for David this was a cause of rejoicing.
The kingship was something much greater than David.
It was the rule of God on the earth forever!
David rejoices that he could see the succession of the kingdom of God through Solomon.
This succession is pivotal for the advancement of the promises of God to David.
The announcement of good news to the king always results in bad news for those opposed to the king.
49 Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way.
God preserves the kingship in Israel despite insurrection through a wife who believes the promises.
God preserves the kingship in Israel despite insurrection through a wife who believes the promises.
There is a sense that we ought to respond to what 1 Kings 1 commands of us: Worship the King seated on the throne!
We need to agree with God on the King who sits on the throne of Heaven, but do more than agree with this fact.
We ought to revel in it.
We ought to rejoice in it!
Benediction
Benediction
6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
